take me to the cinema

A list of faves because there shouldn't be just one 1st place.

Amelie. Life is Beautiful. Shawshank Redemption. American Beauty. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Sophie's Choice. Closer. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. The Diving Bell & the Butterfly. Short Cuts. Mean Creak. Dogville. Rope. Fargo. In the Mood for Love.

ambience

Mood: (see below)

The Radio Dept.

I'm working on an assignment. I think my subject is going to be past Academy Award winners so right now I'm just gathering up the info. Seriously, I think Julian Schnabel's The Diving Bell & the Butterfly should have won at least one. Either best foreign pic, cinematography, art direction, or director. Totally underrated.

I'm excited for the next one to come. And I want to watch Australia. I like Baz Luhrmann. Heath Ledger was to play in it but he backed out to do The Dark Knight. I feel like Nicole Kidman's films don't fluctuate at all. Her selections are odd. The first film that I saw her in was Life when I was like, 8. I think watching the film and understanding death at a young age made a huge impact on me. It influenced the way I view life and I still see life as I did back then. The only difference is that the future isn't a whole anymore. 

I don't understand how parents protect their kids by hiding the truth to an exaggeration. Death is a part of life and we should embrace it by cherishing life just a little bit more. You'll never know, you know? so live life to the fullest because its the only thing that's yours. 

hey, I've got a question

so what happens if the answer isn't blowing in the wind?

Winter

I'm dreading the winter to come.

Actually, the only thing I look forward to is the moment when everyone gathers and squishes into the subway. It's great to get a seat during rush hours, and if I have to stand, it's still nice to look out at the tiny rectangular lights filling outlines of the cityscape. Anyway- a great moment is when you're sitting there, all snuggled up between two strangers and you can just kind of rest there. Every muscle of your body relaxes and rests against the down jackets surrounding your sides. You look up and see the dim yellow lights gleaming against the familiar faces of tired commuters. Oh New Yorkers.

Sept. 11

7th Anniversary of 911. The present: SVA, Darlin's studio. Studying French, him charcoaling away at his easel. Radio Dept. floating in the atmosphere. Half-eaten sandwich and this notebook on my lap. Handwritten flashcards... un bon mari, a good husband. Soundwaves of electronic birdchirps coming from the speakers. It's hot in here. We need to open a window. The smell of turpentine is not so strong anymore. Sandwich gone, break over, back to studying...

Meandered Mind

I am sitting in my room with my computer on my lap. My hair is in a side bun and my humongous glasses are on. It is Friday and I'm spending it in isolation.

I just took a whiff of Sharpie... ew, don't know why I did that. A few weeks ago, my friend gave me one of his paintings. It's yellow and blue, very bright. There's nothing surreal about it really, but it makes me feel that way. I guess bright colors hallucinate me. It makes me feel better. The canvas is another window to the life outside this room. This is what my friend Tanya wrote to me a few days ago: "ps. i saw a really really great green the other day and it made me breathe funny. which reminded me of you." hahahaha!

I was on Lexington Ave. yesterday and passed by a dead pigeon on the street. Half of the pigeon was smeared across the street and the other half was still plump. I never saw pigeon flesh before. It was pretty gross and I felt my guts peeing out. I got extremely upset and it reminded me of the song "That Time" by Regina Spektor, which goes like this:

"Hey remember that time I tried to save a pigeon with a broken wing
A street cat got him by morning and I had to bury pieces of his body in my building's playground
I thought I was going to be sick"

I started singing the song/giggling over the silly lyrics to myself and forgot about the pigeon almost immediately.


I took this at Grand Central station last December. The video quality is crap but other than that...It's beautiful, no?

Countdown

I just spent the last hour looking for my stupid checkbook. It's been MIA for almost 2 years and now I really need it.

The last hour of my hopeless search involved a lot of dust and sniffing (allergies) and many memories of my past. I dug through boxes and boxes of letters that I've received within the past decade or so. It's scary to read through them. I'll save them for a rainy day, I guess. Right now I'm not interested in nostalgia.

This is my last summer vacation. EVER.

While venturing...


Time Square


Spring Street

volume 1

Mid-progress

Hello. July is giving us a break. I'm enjoying the breeze while I can.

In April I made a list of things to do in the summer. Here is my list:

1. Make art (at least 24x36 works- color pencils, paint, graphite)

2. Read at least 7 books (including Stuff of Thought, Anna Karenina, Crime & Punishment)

3. Shakespeare in Park

4. Continue the screenplay

5. Enter contests.

Here is the update...

1. I haven't really yet. I bought a 132 box set of Prisma colored pencils on sale a while ago. The first time I opened it I spent 2 full hours sharpening them (until the sharpener overheated and stopped working). The second time I drew a little something. As for painting... yeah I should just accept the fact that I'll always be clumsy with that medium. I suck. A lot. But it's still fun nonetheless. On my day off last Monday, I decided not to be a blob and painted a bit. I did some figure studies and realized I should be painting on a much larger scale. Augh I get so lazy just thinking about hauling canvases from the shop, setting up, cleaning up...

2. I haven't really yet either. The only book I opened this summer was Max Frankel's autobiography The Times of My Life and My Life with the Times. But I only read the first chapter and that was 2 months ago. Does that count?

3. Let's not talk about it.

4. So I decided to take on a little project. A screenplay, whoo! I started writing in February. Just a breather... I'll spend 20 minutes each night on it; right after I close up the Adobe programs, and right before washing up and going to sleep. I'm adapting one of Tolstoy's shorts... but really, what I'm doing is slaughtering a good name.

5. Contests! I thought the chance of winning money might encourage me to continue designing while school's out. But my internships' been keeping me busy. It's a reaaaally good thing- at least I'm still working. AND the guarantee of money. *double clap! I'll be starting another project soon- I have to personalize 125 individual invitations for a kid's Bar Mitzvah. Ze client and ze boss wants the invitation done on black rubber with silver graffiti marker? Watch... my right hand is going to be skinny by the time I'm finished. And I also have a few side freelance projects going on, fun fun!

This summer has been really great so far. I've been catching up on TV shows, movies, etc. Last night we caught St.Vincent at Castle Clinton. Two nights ago was Feist over at Prospect Park. Her songs are beautiful. So far my summer soundtrack consists of mostly Sigur Ros, Stars, Feist, VulpesVulpes, Plushgun, Pinback, Santogold, Cat Power, she & him...


FFFfound.


Dali: Painting and Film now at the Moma

... among many other things to look forward to with the 50 days left of this summer.